The Emerald Ash Borer information program that was originally scheduled for March 20th and cancelled for inclement weather, has been rescheduled for Tuesday, April 17th, beginning at 6:30 pm.

So don’t Kiss Your Ash Goodbye, but come to the Ewing Environmental Commission’s April meeting to learn from the experts about the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) threat, how it will affect your property, options for managing your ash trees, and potential solutions.

The Emerald Ash borer has been found in Ewing Township. (See the Rutgers EAB Rapid Ash Survey Report and Management Options, Prepared for the Township of Ewing, Mercer County , NJ, By The Rapid Ash Survey Team (RAST) October 2015.) As this invasive pest can easily spread to neighboring trees, all residents should check their ash trees for symptoms of infestation.

“The emerald ash borer will kill 99 percent of all ash trees within the next few years,” said Bill Brash, the NJ State Certified Tree Expert with whom the EGT has been working about the EAB threat to the municipal tree canopy. “Residents should identify ash trees on their property and monitor for signs of damage or decline such as unusual woodpecker activity or missing bark.”

EAB Facts

Since the discovery of emerald ash borer in Michigan in 2002, the beetle has killed hundreds of millions of ash trees in North America. In May 2014, the New Jersey Department of Agriculture confirmed New Jersey’s first detection of the emerald ash borer in Bridgewater in Somerset County, NJ.

The emerald ash borer is a small, metallic green, non-native invasive pest. Trees can be infested for years before the tree begins to show symptoms of infestation. Symptoms include canopy dieback, woodpecker activity, missing bark, D-shaped exit holes, shoots sprouting from the trunk, and S-shaped larval galleries under the bark.

Ash Tree Management

If a tree is already infested or in poor health, it may be best to remove the tree before it becomes infested and poses a hazard to people and surrounding structures. But for those residents with high-value ash in good health, trees can be treated before they become infested.

A Certified Tree Expert can help residents evaluate, then treat or remove ash trees. Contact the Board of Certified Tree Experts at 732-833-0325 or njtreeexperts@gmail.com for a list of professionals serving your area.

This program is being provided by the Ewing EAB Partnership, a coalition composed of Ewing Green Team and Environmental Commission members and representatives from Mercer County, Rutgers University and PSE&G under the direction of NJ State Certified Tree Expert Bill Brash. It is funded by a 2016 PSE&G grant Partnering for the Restoration of the Community Forest: The 3P Plan, Partnerships-Plan-Planting which funded development of partnerships to manage the spread and removals of trees infected with the Emerald Ash Borer on Ewing municipal lands.